Danger! High Voltage
by ShadowKat-Shidobukatsu
Summary: Ori had no idea why his old school mates even bothered with dragging him out at night anymore. He never danced, never drank very much, and they always wound up ditching him near as soon as they got to wherever they were going that night. Warnings for cross dressing, sexist slurs, and language
1. An unlikely meeting

Ori sighed heavily into his glass, leaning back against the bar idly while the people who had brought him to the club (apparently because he was becoming too 'stuffy') had gone off and vanished into the crowd of writhing bodies on the dance floor. He honestly had no idea why his old school mates even bothered with dragging him out at night anymore. He never danced, never drank very much, and they always wound up ditching him near as soon as they got to wherever they were going that night. He'd end up standing by the bar like a tool, nursing his drink, while the rest of them went off to hook up or drink to the point of forgetting he was even present.

He snorted quietly when he noticed one of his so called 'friends' trip over themselves and get smacked by the girl they'd wound up spilling their drink all over.

"Another for ya?"

Ori turned at the familiar timber of the club's regular bartender, who'd come to know Ori by name, sad as it was. "Ah, no. I think I'm quite done for the night," he said, barely loud enough to be heard over the boom of the speaker system piping dance music through the club.

"Ya sure?" the bartender asked, arching an eyebrow. Dwalin, Ori believed he recalled the man once saying his name was.

"Yes. As amusing as it is to watch my friends make fools of themselves on the dance floor, I'd really rather just be at home reading," the red head admitted with a small shrug, placing his empty glass on the bar for Dwalin to take.

The bartender nodded, swiping the glass away and tossing it into a bin behind the counter, offering Ori a hint of a smile. If one could call the tiniest quirk of the corner of his lips as a smile. "You take care, then. I suspect I'll be seeing you again next week," Dwalin said, giving Ori a short wave as the red head began to move away from the bar.

"More than likely," Ori muttered with a grimace, offering Dwalin a short wave as he began to make his way through the crowd towards the front doors. He shied away from a couple of dancers the club employed to keep people dancing, waving them off when they offered to dance with him, and made a happy noise in the back of his throat when he finally spotted the front doors, skirting around a group who seemed to be celebrating a birthday party.

Ori let out a breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding once he was outside the club, smoothing out his rumpled jacket, and offering the bouncer a quick smile, before heading down the street, more than ready to be snug in his bed at home with a good book. He couldn't help be give pause, however, when he heard rather disgruntled voices coming from the alleyway just astride the club, before he'd even managed to walk a block.

"You said you wanted to have some fun," one voice shouted, making Ori take a quick step closer to the building, just peeking around the corner to see what was going on.

"Yeah! And by fun, I meant dancing! Not you dragging me out into the alleyway, expecting a fuck! Holy shit, I'm a dancer, not a god damn hooker!"

Ori watched in mildly stunned silence as a rather burly, and obviously drunk man grabbed someone around the arm and haul them more into the light, resulting in the red head being able to see it was one of the dancers he sometimes saw around the club. The one with long brown hair who always seemed to be wearing a fancy looking corset, and who wound up unintentionally earning him a dirty look from Dwalin the one time he'd commented on how nicely they seemed to fit. As if he'd been looking for the sex appeal of it, rather than the rather gorgeous embroidery work around the eyelets on the back.

"You listen here, you little slut-"

"Excuse me!"

Ori quickly clapped a hand over his mouth when the dancer tried to pull away at the slur, and thus being quickly and rather brutally shoved into the brick wall by the man for their effort. He knew he just couldn't continue to stand idly by any longer when the man moved to yank the dancer back onto their feet and took hold of their hair in one large, meaty hand.

"Hey!"

The two in the alley both looked up at his shout, causing Ori to only regret his actions for about three seconds as he ran full tilt down towards the man, and promptly tackling him to the ground. In his surprise, the bulky man released the dancer, much to Ori's relief, even as he realized that it gave the man access to both his hands to grab hold of his person instead. He quickly scrambled to his feet as the man began to flail around on the ground to try and get purchase to heave himself back onto his feet. While the man was still flailing about, Ori quickly grabbed the dancer's hand, heart beating a mile a minute and feeling as if it was about to burst from his chest.

"Run," he hissed, tugging the dancer along as he began to sprint back towards the street he'd been walking on, knowing the light flow of traffic was at least enough to deter the man from attacking again, even if he did managed to follow them.

"I-C'mon! These shoes aren't meant for running," the dancer huffed behind Ori, the red head finally slowing after they had run a good couple of blocks, and there were yet to be any signs of the man following them.

"Sorry," Ori wheezed through gasping breaths, finally releasing the hand he'd been holding in his grasp, turning to offer the dancer a tired smile as he sucked air back into his lungs, "I didn't know if he'd try to follow us or not."

The dancer waved their hand through the air, an air of dismissal about the gesture. "Their kind normally don't. He probably just headed back into the club to find another poor soul to try and pick up," they said, snorting quietly. They looked Ori over quickly, a small, amused smile playing across their lips. "I appreciate the save, though. You don't really seem the type to go out of your way to get into a physical altercation. If you catch my drift."

Ori's cheeks flared red at the comment, giving the dancer a mildly incredulous look. "Well. If that's the way you thank everyone who tries to save you from potential rapists," he grumbled, earning a light laugh from the other.

"I was only teasing," the brunette hummed, flicking hair over their shoulder. "I see you at the club almost every week. You never dance, and hardly drink. You usually come in with a big group of people, but always leave alone. It's hard not to take notice of regulars, let alone regulars as peculiar as you. My name is Kili, by the way," they said, offering a hand.

"Ori," the red head returned, giving Kili's hand a quick shake. He paused for a moment, chewing on his lower lip for a moment before speaking. "People've really taken notice of me at the club?"

Kili laughed again. "Like I said, hard not to. Especially considering you've actually spoken to Dwalin. And apparently at length at some given point. He said you were a librarian? Definitely not the usual type we get at the club."

"Yes, well," Ori grumbled, picking at his hair a little, "My friends keep telling me that spending all my time with books isn't going to get me a relationship. Apparently going to the club and getting drunk is a better alternative. Though, I'm not quite sure how, exactly."

"They probably think that if you get laid you'll loosen up," Kili supplied, grinning like the chesire cat.

Ori sputtered a little waving a hand quickly through the air. "That's ridiculous! As if sex is going to suddenly change my entire personality. It hasn't yet, and I really highly doubt it's going to do so anytime in the future. Neither is alcohol, if that was going to be your next suggestion as to their line of thinking. Honestly. I don't see what's wrong with wanting to just sit at home and enjoy a good book and a cup of tea." He blushed as he realized the rambling rant he'd just subjected the other to, shrinking into his jacket a little. "Sorry."

Kili simply smirked at him, shrugging a little. "It's fine. And I completely understand. I see way too many unfortunates getting dragged into the bar by their friends, their whole line of logic being that getting their one shy friend good and smashed and forcing them on some poor schmuck is going to suddenly make them realize they're a social butterfly or something. It's ridiculous, but. I make really good tips from those kids, usually."

Ori stared at the smirk on Kili's face for a moment, arching an eyebrow. "You're serious, aren't you."

"Damn skippy," Kili hummed, their smirk growing into a full blown grin. "I was actually waiting for one of your friends to try and get you to dance with me, but alas. Now you've gone and talked to me, and the magic is gone." The brunette startled slightly at the bright laughter that comment got from Ori, their grin softening into a smile. "What? It's true."

"I'm sure it is," Ori murmured, wiping at his eyes a little, still smiling widely. "But, anyway…Do you want me to walk you back to the club? I'm certain you don't have all of your belongings stuffed into your corset, so I'm guessing your jacket and practical shoes are back at the club?"

Kili glanced down at the thick high heeled boots they were wearing, snorting quietly, "I wear these for nearly eight hours straight dancing and waiting tables. These are the comfiest shoes you ever did see."

Ori laughed lightly, shrugging. "Could've fooled me, the way you were complaining about having to run in them."

"You would be too, in three inch heels. Chunky or not," Kili huffed, though there was still a smile on their lips, "But, in answer to your question, I should be fine. Thank you."

"All right, well," Ori hummed, shuffling a tad awkwardly on the spot, picking at the sleeve of his jacket. "I guess I'll," he paused, scrunching his nose up with a sigh, "More than likely see you next week at the club." He rolled his eyes while blowing hair out of his face, earning a laugh from Kili.

"That seems like a long time," the dancer murmured, suddenly grabbing Ori's hand and pulling a sharpie from a pant pocket, "I'd rather see you sooner." The brunette smirked as the felt tip of the marker quickly danced across the skin on the back of Ori's hand, the red head keeping completely still in fear of ruining whatever Kili was writing. "Call me tomorrow. It's my day off. And if you don't, I'll sick Dwalin on you."

Ori simply nodded dumbly as Kili waved and walked away, a slightly smudged phone number left scrawled across the back of Ori's hand.

The librarian squirmed in his seat, hands wrapped tightly around the herbal tea he'd ordered mere minutes before, consistently casting glances towards the cafe door. He really didn't know what had come over him when he'd picked up the phone that morning and dialed the number on the back of his hand. He'd almost been praying that Kili wouldn't answer, which would save him from the inevitable awkward social interaction that would follow, resulting in Ori never being able to show his face at the club ever again. Of course, the fates hated him, and Kili did, in fact, pick up the phone. And them promptly tell him exactly which coffee shop was their favorite. And what time to meet. Ori was, of course, early. Which only added to his anxiety, given that he was renowned for being stood up on first…whatever it was they were doing at the cafe.

"Good afternoon."

Ori jumped when the seat across from him was suddenly occupied by another body, tea sloshing over the edge of his cup and all over his knitted gloves. He made a rather undignified noise as he quickly peeled his gloves off and attacked them with napkins, the person responsible for so suddenly pulling him out of his thoughts and inadvertently causing the spill scrambling to help him clean it up.

"Sorry! Wow, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," the person quickly apologized, patting at Ori's slightly red fingers with a napkin, causing the red head to finally look up at whoever had sat across from him. Who was Kili, of course. A Kili with five o'clock shadow and wearing a rather ratty looking Def Leopard t-shirt.

The first words Ori had planned on saying to Kili when the other deemed to grace him with their presence had originally been along the lines of 'good morning', or 'How are you today?', not the hasty and rather startled, "You're a man?" that tumbled from his lips. That comment earned him a rather hurt look from Kili, who began to stand back up.

"Oh! Oh, no!" Ori quickly spit out, hoping to quickly fix the whole situation, "Please, I-That did not come out right! Well, I mean, it did, obviously, it was english, but that wasn't what I meant! Er, well, it was, but only because I thought-well, it's obvious what I thought, isn't it? Oh, god, I'm just making myself look like an idiot." Ori groaned and flopped his head forward onto the table, being mindful of his tea even as his forehead smacked down on the plastic table top.

Ori fully expected to find the seat across from him completely deserted when he lifted his head back up, blinking owlishly when he discovered Kili sitting there with a lopsided smile on his face.

"You haven't left," Ori murmured, his chin still resting on the table top.

"Well, no. I had assumed your floundering hadn't meant you wanted me to leave, but I can always go," Kili trailed off, gesturing towards the door.

"No!" Ori sat fully upright, waving his hands through the air, Kili's quick reflexes the only thing saving his tea from being completely knocked onto the floor. "No, I-I'm sorry. For my outburst. I just, you look different."

Kili shrugged, a rather depreciating smile on his face as he carefully pushed the abused cup of tea back towards the librarian. "Yeah. I get that a lot," he hummed, tucking a stray bit of hair behind his ear, "Comes with the territory of being a cross-dresser. Which, you should probably tell me if it bothers you now, before we continue with this date."

"Date?" Ori echoed in surprised, fingers instinctively wrapping back around his cup.

The brunette snickered, leaning his cheek into the palm of his hand. "Yes. Date. Hence the permanent marker phone number on the back of your hand. If I'd just wanted to hang out, I could've waited until next Friday night."

"Point," Ori breathed, a quiet, nervous laugh escaping him. "Ah, but, right! The cross-dressing," he swallowed thickly, offering Kili a shy smile, half ducking behind the thick scarf wrapped around his neck, "No. It doesn't bother me in the least bit. Your life choices are your own, and no one should be able to dictate to another person how they should live. Plus, you know, you look good, uhm, either way."

The beaming grin Kili gave him for his words caught him off guard, and he really couldn't help but duck further into his scarf.

"Good," the dancer hummed happily, waving over a barista to take his coffee order.


	2. Gay Bar

A/N-The song being referred to is 'Gay Bar' by Electric Six

Ori returned the short wave Kili gave him as he walked into the club, flashing him a bashful smile as he headed over to the bar for his customary single shot vodka and lemonade. It was odd to him, to say the least, to think that he and Kili had some sort of 'thing', and yet walk into the club to find Kili practically giving some random stranger a lap dance. Not that he minded, of course. It was Kili's job to do just that, and it was his choice to have whatever career suited him. It was simply an odd feeling. Innate possessiveness, possibly.

He made his way over to the bar, nodding at Dwalin, who gestured at him to sit, as he was busy mixing what appeared to be several drinks for a small party happening off in the corner of the club. The librarian simply nodded and settled himself at one of the few stools near the end of the bar, swiveling himself around to idly watch the crowd as he usually did, his eyes instinctively searching out Kili in the crowd.

Kili had apparently finished with the kid he'd been dancing with and noticed Ori looking, quickly blowing the red head an exaggerated kiss, which easily earned him several curious looks from a few of the other club patrons on the dance floor. The librarian simply ducked his head and grinned sheepishly, wiggling his fingers minutely in a wave, hoping to perhaps detract a little of the attention suddenly focused on him. He happily turned to grab his drink when Dwalin slid it across the bar to him, quickly paying for it and turning back to the dance floor.

Ori watched in curiosity as Kili made his way over to the small DJ booth at the back of the club, his eyes only momentarily straying to the dark purple lacing of the corset Kili was wearing that night, which was long enough to be swaying just in front of his ass. Figures. He shook his head slightly, blinking in surprise when Kili waved at him frantically, gesturing towards the DJ booth, before prancing back out onto the dance floor.

The red head very nearly spit his drink all over the floor as the song's opening lines began to pour through the club speakers, Kili dancing around happily between patrons, pointing at Ori and mouthing along to the words as they played, at one point going so far as to gesture rather rudely at the line 'I've got something to put in you', which made Ori shrink down in his seat, and Dwalin to let out a loud guffaw of laughter behind him.

"I think Kili's tryin' to tell ya somethin', lad," Dwalin snorted behind Ori, to which the librarian quickly turned away from the dance floor and buried his face in his hands.

"So it would seem," he groaned, muffled by his hands. He very nearly jumped right out of his skin when there was suddenly a light pressure against his back and hot breath ghosting across the back of his neck.

"I wanna take you to a gay bar," Kili whispered into Ori's ear, earning a swift smack in the side from the librarian. It was well worth it for the way the red head flushed bright pink to the tips of his ears, in Kili's opinion, however. The brunette simply cackled as Ori cussed him out, and quickly danced away.


	3. Meet the family

The next time Ori called Kili, the brunette insisted upon having a proper 'dinner date' with the librarian, claiming it was necessary for him to make up for their coffee date. Apparently, due to his profession, and how he most often met people dressed as a woman, he'd experienced one too many times where the person he'd been seeing hadn't realized he was a male until either a rather inopportune moment (Ori had cringed at the thought) or when they'd randomly popped by his apartment and he was dressed in his pajamas. He said it was simply easier now to sort through those he wanted to spend his time with and those he didn't by exposing them to both sides of his life quickly, and often painfully. If they met him while he was dressed like a woman, he'd show up the next time they met dressed as sloppily as he'd let himself leave the house, and if they'd met him as a man, he'd wear one of his favorite dresses and do his hair. Ori had to agree that it was a rather good way to figure out who was worth Kili's time or not, but he'd also pointed out that sort of behavior could be dangerous, depending on the person he was showing up to meet.

"I usually drag my brother along, just in case for those sort of situations," Kili had said, "When I'm not sure how the other person will take it, or if I wouldn't be able to physically overpower them myself."

Ori had countered, rather petulantly, that that must have meant Kili thought he could easily take the librarian, despite having tackled a much larger man to the ground the night they'd met.

"Well, yes," Kili had laughed, causing Ori to grumble irately, "But I also had a good feeling about you."

The librarian had preened a little at the compliment, and their coffee date had gone smoothly from there, with barely a hint of a hiccup, aside from Ori accidentally knocking another cup of tea over.

Thus, Ori found himself standing in front of his bathroom mirror, staring at the violet button down shirt and black tie he was wearing while chewing on his lip and wondering if it was too much. Kili had told him to dress nicely, but had he meant 'dress nicely', as in semi-formal, or 'dress nicely', as in a nice looking t-shirt and jeans.

In the end he finally realized he was running short on time, and had little to no time to change, regardless of what Kili had meant, so he kept the simply violet button down, black tie, and dress slacks. He quickly dragged a comb through his hair, before heading out the door, snagging a black dress jacket, just in case.

It wasn't until he was half way to Kili's apartment building that he came to the realization that Kili had probably expected him to drive them to whichever restaurant the brunette had made reservations at. He'd never told Kili that he didn't own a car, and everywhere he ever went was well within reasonable walking distance, including the dancer's building. He cursed quietly at himself, hoping Kili wouldn't mind catching a cab.

He finally shuffled up to the buzzer at the front door to Kili's building, letting out a puff of air, before dialing the dancer's apartment number.

"Hello?" an unfamiliar voice growled out of the speaker, causing the red head to startle slightly and double check the number he'd punched in.

"Uh, hi? Hello, yes, uh, is this Kili Durinson's apartment? Number 32?" he asked hesitantly, unsure if he'd perhaps hit the wrong number and disturbed someone.

"Yeah. May I ask who's buzzing?" the voice replied, sounding only a little less growley.

"It's Ori. Ah, Ori Rison," the red head supplied, fiddling somewhat anxiously with his jacket.

"Oh, yeah, okay," the voice sighed, the buzzer for the door suddenly sounding.

Ori quickly snatched the door and pulled it open, sucking in a quick deep breath, before he headed up to Kili's apartment. It was just his luck that the brunette would have a roommate who would more than likely pester him with questions, assuming the worst of him. He'd manage, though. As lng as no one tried to knife him (a worry that only surfaced after a rather worrisome run in with one of his brother's friends), he would be fine.

"So you're the mouse," were the first words that greeted Ori once Kili's apartment door had been opened. A blonde man stood in the doorway, taking up enough space that there was no way for Ori to squeeze around him without it being unnecessarily awkward.

"I'm sorry, mouse?" Ori questioned, earning a smirk from the blonde.

"Nevermind him," Kili's voice floated over the two men in the doorway, causing the blonde to heave a sigh, and Ori to smile, "Fili, move out of the door. You're acting like a tool."

"Sorry," the blonde-Fili-grumbled, shuffling out of the way and wandering off into the apartment, "Wouldn't want to keep the cat and mouse apart."

"What does he mean, 'cat and mouse'?" Ori asked, shutting the door once he was inside, and pausing with no small amount of awe at seeing Kili.

The brunette was wearing a rather flattering blue dress, perfectly snug around his waist, but with enough flow and ruffle around the top, coupled with Kili's trademark corset underneath, to give the illusion of breasts. His hair was pulled up into a messy bun, with a blue flower carefully secured in the side.

"He just likes to make up names for the people I see," Kili said with a shrug, wrapping a thick shawl around his shoulders and slipping on a pair of high heels that matched his dress. Not that he really needed to be any taller than Ori. "From my description of you as the shy type, and a librarian, he decided you were a mouse."

"Oh," the red head muttered, scrunching his nose slightly, before shaking his head a bit and offering the other a smile. "Well, regardless. Ready to go?"

"Mhmmm," Kili hummed, grabbing a purse from a table near the door, turning to Fili who had reappeared in the front hallway as Kili had been getting his shoes on. "Don't stay up, okay?" he directed to Fili, "I don't know when we'll be getting back."

"Just text if you're not going to be back at all," the blonde said, giving Kili a pointed look, getting only a laugh in return. "See you later." He leaned in and placed a quick peck to Kili's cheek, earning a light smack from the brunette, but a smile all the same.

"Bye," Kili hummed, waltzing out the door once Ori had pulled it open, the red head following as they exited the building.

"So, Fili is-?" Ori asked, pulling his jacket on as they began to walk down the street, figuring if Kili was as dressed up as he was, they were more than likely going somewhere fancy.

"My brother," Kili offered, flashing Ori a smirk. "Why, were you worried I was polygamous for a second there?"

"No," Ori snorted, waving a hand quickly, before pausing and biting his tongue a little, "Not that there's anything wrong with that, for certain people, I just…I was curious."

Kili laughed, flicking the librarian lightly in the ear. "You try way too hard to be PC, my friend. You're allowed to be curious. Don't worry so much," he said, looping his arm with Ori so they could walk down the street arm in arm.

The two walked silently for a moment, before Ori spoke. "Does this mean I should introduce you to my brothers now?"

"One step at a time," Kili said quickly, grinning as he gave Ori's hand a light pat, "No need to rush into family diners. Wouldn't want to spoil everything by having your family disapprove of me."

"I doubt they'd disapprove of you," Ori stated, his mind wandering momentarily to how many time Nori had been in and out of jail in the last few years. "I really do."

They continued to walk for a while longer in comfortable silence, the only sound being that of the light traffic on the road, and Kili's high heels on the pavement, before Ori piped up again.

"By the way. Were you expecting me to drive? Because I don't have a car."

Kili nearly doubled over in laughter at Ori's quick and bashful apologies when they realized they'd have to call a cab and wait for at least twenty minutes, which prompted Kili to call the restaurant and let them know they'd be a little late.

"Honestly! You are too cute," Kili wheezed through his laughter, moving to sit on the edge of a sidewalk planter, grinning up at Ori.

"It hadn't crossed my mind until too late," the red head grumped, settling himself next to Kili.

"It's still cute," Kili hummed, tugging lightly on Ori's tie until the librarian turned his head towards the brunette, and being rewarded with a soft kiss.


	4. Fight wounds

Ori smiled slightly as he leaned against the side of the building just outside the back door of the club. He could hear Kili just inside bidding his farewells to the other club workers, making it seem as if he wasn't going to see them again the very next night.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Kili hummed once he'd finally exited the building, offering Ori a sheepish grin while brushing a few stray hairs out of his face. He hadn't even bothered to change from his work clothes, though he'd pulled a heavy leather jacket on over his corset, and had obviously touched up his make-up.

"You didn't," the librarian reassured, unable to help but make a slightly startled, but pleased noise when Kili leaned in to brush their lips together in a quick kiss.

"I really did," the brunette corrected, laughing lightly as he looped his arm through Ori's and began to tug the librarian away from the club and towards a small diner not far away that was open 24 hours a day.

"Okay, maybe a little," Ori admitted, batting at Kili when the dancer punched him playfully in the arm.

The two had agreed to meet up after Kili's shift on Saturday night, since the dancer had Sunday and Monday off, and they had mutually decided it would be good a time as any to spend some quality time together. They'd only been on a small handful of dates as of yet, and hadn't really been to each other's respective homes yet (aside from the scant few moments Ori had been inside the front door of Kili's apartment), thus figured that spending time together outside of coffee shops and restaurants was a good idea. After breakfast, of course.

The diner Kili had told Ori about was only about four or five city blocks away from the club, and catered largely to the late night club crowd, as well as overnight workers, hence his insistence at heading there first, before having a 'sleep-over', as he enjoyed calling it. He'd pointed out that he was more often then not near starving by the time his shifts were over at the club, and didn't want to impose upon Ori's kitchen just yet, when the red had had protested and pointed out that he could just cook something for the dancer at his apartment if he was hungry.

In retrospect, Ori began to think he really should have insisted more heavily upon going straight back to his apartment from the club.

"Hey, pretty lady!" a rather drunk voice shouted, causing the red head to give a short pause, despite Kili's sudden tug on his arm. The red head glanced up to catch Kili giving him a quick shake of the head, moving to hasten his steps when the dancer began to walk faster.

"I'm talking to you!" the voice called again, Ori unable to help but glance over his shoulder at a man stumbling along the street, what appeared to be a beer can clutched haphazardly in his hand. He swallowed thickly and looked back to the front, lengthening his stride to help quicken their walk to the diner.

"Aw, c'mon! Don't be like that, baby! Come back here," the man's voice was becoming increasingly disgruntled, finally crescendoing into a shout of anger at Kili's refusal to acknowledge his presence. They both froze in their tracks when the man's beer can collided with the back of Kili's jacket, the remains of the contents spattering over the both of them.

Ori gaped quietly, staring ahead in surprise at the boldness of the man, before remembering just how drunkards in that particular part of the city could be, and rapidly became far less surprised, and far more outraged at the audacity of the man. He glanced at Kili, who had his eyes shut and was visibly counting to ten under his breath, fingers clenched tight around Ori's bicep, his whole frame nearly vibrating.

"That's right, bitch! Only wanted to fucking talk to you, ya icy cunt!"

Ori gave Kili's arm a small tug when the brunette opened his eyes, and the red head saw the flash of anger in the brunette's gaze, quickly taking a step forward to try and get the dancer moving as the drunk man began to approach again. "Kili, come on. We don't have to deal with this tonight," he murmured, glancing at the man who had to be only a few feet away now.

"No," the dancer breathed, slipping his arm from Ori's, flashing the librarian a feral smirk, which only served to make the red head all the more nervous, "But I'm going to."

At that moment, the man landed a hand on Kili's shoulder, and in a flash the dancer spun on his heel as brought his elbow up, using his momentum to slam the leather covered joint into the man's face. The man stumbled backwards, clutching at his now bloodied nose, cursing rather colourfully as Kili strode forward. The brunette rolled his shoulder a little, before hauling back and following up the previous hit with his elbow, with a punch that would surely break the man's already fractured nose. He took a step back once the man was on the ground screaming about his nose, looking satisfied with himself.

"Maybe now you'll think twice about making woman feel unsafe in their own city, won't you?" he sneered, flicking his hair as he began to walk away from the fallen man.

He'd barely managed to take two steps, however, as Ori shouted at him to watch out and the man had a hand around his ankle and threw off his balance. He hit the ground with a grunt, barely managing to catch himself and scraping up the palms of his hands as he fell. He kicked out and managed to make contact with the man's hand, which quickly released him. Kili quickly scrambled to his feet, Ori there to help yank him back up and away from the cursing man on the ground.

"Let's just go back to my apartment," the red head murmured, yanking Kili across the street quickly and hurrying them along the fastest root back to his building.

"How are your hands?" Ori asked once he'd shut and locked his apartment door, finally allowing himself to breath easy.

"Fine," Kili grumbled, yanking his boots off and dropping them onto the small shoe mat next to the door where the rest of Ori's shoes were sat. He couldn't hide the small wince he gave as he pulled his jacket off, though, prompting the red head to simply take hold of the brunette's hand to take a look for himself.

"They are not fine," he scolded, brushing his fingers over the angry red scratches across the dancer's skin, hiding a tiny cringe at the small droplets of blood that had already begun to scab over, along with the tiny pieces of gravel half buried in the wounds. Ori gave a short 'tsk', before tugging lightly on the brunette's wrists to get him to follow him to the kitchen.

"Sit," Ori commanded, pointing at the tiny kitchen table, only big enough to barely seat two, already moving to one of the cupboards near his fridge.

"Woof," Kili grumbled petulantly, even as he flopped down onto one of the chairs, only mildly surprised at the softness of the cushion on the chair. Everything about the librarian's apartment screamed comfort, at least, from the little bit Kili had seen thus far.

"Don't be like that," the red head murmured, pulling a first aid kit from the cupboard and moving back to the kitchen table, "I know you're upset, but I just want to make sure your hands heal properly."

"Have a lot of experience with fight wounds, do you?" Kili teased rather meanly, snorting at the arched eyebrow he received from the other.

Ori sighed as he began to gently wipe an antiseptic cloth across Kili's palms, earning a grunt of pain from the brunette. "My brother," the red head spoke, staring intently at his work as he meticulously cleaned the dancer's palms, "Got into a lot of fights while I was growing up. And I read a lot of medical books and such, since, well, I just generally like to read," here he paused and laughed quietly, "As you could probably guess. Regardless, when he would get in fights and come home hurt, rather than face our oldest brother or our mother, he would come to me. Whether it was something as simple as getting me to help cover up some bruises, or as serious as cleaning out knife wounds. And, no, I'm not exaggerating there. He didn't like doctors, never trusted them, apparently, so he would come and ask me to look up how to fix whatever injury he'd managed to invoke upon himself, and I'd inevitably help him. So, in response to your comment, though I'm sure you weren't expecting an answer; Yes. I do, as a matter of fact, have plenty of experience with fight wounds."

Kili sat in silence, stunned, in short, by Ori's short diatribe. He swallowed thickly, ducking his head a little as the red head finished bandaging up his hands. Once they were free from the other's grasp he carefully curled them in his lap, taking a short, shuddering breath.

"I'm sorry," he near whispered, biting his lower lip, "I just…I run into guys like that a lot, you know? Being the way I am, and working where I work, I just-I get tired of it. Am tired of it. I didn't mean to lash out at you like that, just now." He startled a bit when Ori's hands settled lightly over top of his own, causing him to look up through his bangs to find the librarian simply smiling at him softly.

"It's all right. I understand. Don't worry about it."

Kili let out a short breath, blowing hair out of his face and offered the red head a lopsided smile. "What ever did I do to deserve your kindness?" he queried, laughing lightly at the shrug Ori gave him in response.

"Were a decent human being? It's not exactly hard," the red head offered, grinning a little, "Anyway. Do you still want me to make you something to eat?"

Kili quickly shook his head, stifling a yawn quickly with one of his freshly bandaged hands. "Nah. I don't think I could eat right now, anyway, even if you did make something," he admitted, rising from his seat.

"All right. Well, honestly, after that whole situation, I'm definitely not letting you walk home," he said, waving off the mock-offended look Kili shot him, "It's late, I honestly wouldn't let anyone walk home at this point. So, you can borrow some of my clothes for the night, since I very much doubt you'd want to wear a corset to bed, and you can sleep in my room tonight."

"And will you be joining me in this 'sleeping'?" Kili hummed, sliding up beside Ori curling his fingers into the red head's with a lecherous grin.

"Do you want me to?" Ori asked, tilting his head slightly and arching an eyebrow, a tiny smirk of his own curling his lips.

The dancer stifled yet another yawn, before letting out a snort of laughter. "Ah, yes, though I'm afraid I'll probably be asleep before my head hits the pillow," he muttered, rubbing at his eye and effectively smearing his eyeliner.

Ori couldn't help but chuckle at Kili's sleepy appearance, figuring the brunette would look very much the part of a tired five year old, if not for his make-up and current choice of attire. "That was all I was planning on," he hummed, leading the way to his bed room.

Once the two were settled comfortably in the bed, Kili's face scrubbed clean of his make-up for the sake of Ori's pillow cases, the brunette snuggled up behind the librarian, curling an arm happily around his middle.

"Good night," he breathed, pressing a kiss to the back of Ori's neck, sighing contentedly at the tangle of the red head's fingers in his own.

"Sweet dreams."


	5. Intruder alert

As late morning sunlight began to filter into the room, Kili groaned and stretched languidly across the bed, rolling over and snuggling into one of the several pillows Ori seemed to like having piled up around him while he slept. He slowly blinked his eyes open and stifled a short yawn, before looking around blearily as he slowly began to realize that he was alone in the bed. He sat up in a rush, frowning a little as his borrowed sleep shirt slipped down his shoulder.

"Ori?" he called out, shoving back the blankets and climbing out of bed. He shuffled through the tiny apartment, rubbing at his eyes and generally feeling grumpy when it became quite apparent that the librarian was nowhere to be found. He sighed loudly as he returned to the bedroom and flopped down onto the bed in a huff, perking up a little when his body hitting the blankets caused a small piece of paper to float up from the pillows and flutter to the floor.

"What have we, here?" he hummed to himself, shuffling to the edge of the bed to scoop the paper from the floor, his eyes quickly scanning over the neat script written on it.

_So sorry for taking off while you were still asleep, but the library called about a missing shipment of books, and apparently they couldn't talk to me about it over the phone. It shouldn't take me too horribly long, and I thought you'd probably like to sleep in after last night. I should be back around lunch time, if you want to hang out around the apartment until I get back, then we could go out for lunch? Feel free to help yourself to anything you'd like, though I should warn you that the coffee pot is extremely temperamental and only seems to like to work if you curse it out and thump it a few times. At least, that's how my brother gets it to work, since I only have it for when he comes around.  
Regardless. You can use the shower, if you wish, the towels are in the hallway closet. I wouldn't suggest washing your clothes, since the laundry machines are in the basement, and they tend to be guarded by , who is a rather nasty cat who only lets you in if you give her some crackers. But, you can wash your jacket in the shower, if you want. I noticed this morning that it sort of smells a little bit like stale beer.  
And this note has gotten awfully long for a note letting you know I'd be back at lunch. Sorry.  
See you later, and make yourself at home.  
-Ori_

Kili chuckled at the note, shaking his head a little as he carefully folded up the paper and moved to tuck it into the pocket of his still discarded jeans. True that it was quite possibly the longest 'be back soon' note he'd ever received, but it was also one of the sweetest. Aside from the odd tangent about the laundry guarding cat.

He wandered about the apartment a little once he'd made the bed appear a touch more presentable, chewing on his lip a bit as he riffled through the librarians fridge as his stomach began to let him know it was time to eat. He found some apples in one of the fruit drawers and happily took one out to munch on while he inspected his beer splattered leather jacket, frowning a bit at the stench of day old beer emanating from it.

"Yes, you definitely need a wash," he muttered to himself, taking a particularly vicious bite from his apple as he took his jacket to the bathroom to rinse off in the shower. He'd wash it properly later, once he was back home, but for now a simple rinse down would do fine.

Once his task was complete, he hung his jacket over the shower curtain rod with a nod of satisfaction, and headed to the kitchen to toss out his apple core. All in all, and aside from waking up alone, the morning had been pretty good, in his books.

That was, of course, until he heard the front door nob rattling about, and heard someone who was most definitely not Ori cursing quietly on the other side about difficult locks.

Kili took a quick step away from the door, casting his gaze around quickly to find something to defend himself with, before dashing into the kitchen. He knew it was all the way to the back of the apartment, and furthest form the door, thus it was probably not the safest place to run to when someone was breaking and entering into the apartment, but it was also where Kili knew there would be plenty of things he could use to defend himself, if the need arose.

He sucked in a sharp breath as he began to rummage hastily through Ori's cupboards and drawers, freezing when he heard the front door finally swing open. He glanced down at the drawer he'd pulled open, thanking whatever or whoever was watching over him for the thick, wooden rolling pin that was resting inside. He snatched up the baking instrument, and silently slid the drawer shut, before creeping over to the doorway, so he could catch the intruder off guard, should they choose to enter the kitchen.

Which they inevitably did, walking straight past Kili towards the fridge. The brunette let out a shout, causing the intruder to turn just as the dancer swung the rolling pin out, and successfully caught the intruder in the side of the head with the heavy wood. The man fell to the floor in a heap, with Kili standing above him, disheveled and breathing hard from adrenaline.

"Holy fuck," the brunette hissed, quickly pacing around the kitchen, clutching the rolling pin in one hand, and his hair in the other. "Shitshitshitshit," he breathed, flopping down into a kitchen chair as he glanced over at the knocked out man sprawled across the tiled floor. His frazzled mind was running a mile minute, trying to figure out what he was expected to do from here.

"Cops. Right, yes," he muttered finally, shaking a little as he lifted himself from the kitchen chair, and began to move across the kitchen towards the phone hanging on the wall, only to let out a startled scream when he felt fingers curl around his ankle. He looked down to find the intruder groaning into the tiles, his fingers looped loosely around his ankle. He glanced around in a mild panic, before simply lobbing the rolling pin at the man, effectively hitting him square across the back, causing the man to release his foot and shout in pain.

Kili saw his chance and bolted from the kitchen, running out into the front hall just as Ori was finally coming home, giving his unlocked door an odd look. The red head looked up as Kili barreled into the front hall, the faint smile he'd had on his face at initially seeing the brunette quickly fading into a concerned frown at how upset the dancer appeared.

"Kili? What happened?" he asked quickly, dropping the bag he'd been carrying to catch the brunette in a quick hug as Kili practically flung himself forward.

"There's a man in the kitchen," the dancer spit out quickly, releasing Ori to turn and shove the librarian behind him as the man in question stumbled into the kitchen doorway.

"Fine way of greeting folks, you have," the man grumbled, rubbing at the spot on his back that the rolling pin had hit, while leaning casually against the door frame, as if he belonged there.

"Folks," Kili spit, ignoring Ori's sudden fussing behind him, "Don't normally break and enter into other people's homes."

The man gave Kili an odd sort of look, before snorting loudly and folding his arms loosely over his chest. "Yeah, well, I lost my key and I wasn't expecting a fiery little strumpet to be flouncing about the place," the man returned, nodding at Ori, who'd finally managed to wriggle around Kili and get into the hall proper.

"Nori!" Ori snapped, sounding like an admonishing parent, the man in the doorway shrinking back a touch, "First off, apologize to Kili right this instant! You scared him half to death!"

Kili looked between the two in utter bewilderment as Nori simply rolled his eyes and frowned lightly.

"I'm not apologizing for nothing. He smacked me with a rolling pin," the elder said, brushing hair from his face to reveal a purplish bruise already forming, "and then chucked the thing at me shortly thereafter."

"You lock-picked the door to get in, and then grabbed my foot in the kitchen! What did you expect me to do?!" Kili shot back, his fear easily being replaced by indignation.

"Yeah, well, like I said, I lost my key," Nori reiterated, sneering at the brunette.

"Enough, both of you!" Ori suddenly snapped, causing the other two in the hall to jump, having momentarily forgot the younger red head was even present. "Honestly. And, fine, if you won't apologize. Kili, I'm terribly sorry. This is Nori, my brother. He occasionally, and unexpectedly drops by. I'm so sorry he scared you. I thought he was out of town, and didn't realize he'd be coming by, let alone letting himself in with a lock-pick," at that he paused to shoot Nori a glare, causing the elder to simply shrug one shoulder. "Anyway…Are you all right?"

Kili looked between the brothers one last time, before letting out a breath and nodding a little. "A bit shaken, but otherwise fine," the brunette admitted, offering Ori a tiny smile.

"Great. Everybody's peachy. Can I go make myself some lunch now?" Nori butt in, looking completely unimpressed in the kitchen doorway. "Also, why's he wearing your clothes?"

Ori flushed red at his brother's comments, rolling his eyes as he took Kili's hand in his own and began to tug the brunette back towards his bedroom. "Go make some lunch for yourself. And what he's wearing is none of your business. Should you continue to try and pry, I'll call Dori and let him know you're back in town," the librarian shot over his shoulder.

"You wouldn't," Nori called down the hall as Ori began to shut his bedroom door.

"Try me!" the red head called back, pushing his door to. He let out a breath, thumping his forehead against the wood, before turning to Kili with a wobbly smile. "So…That was Nori," he repeated, leaning back against the door, looking to be a tad nervous.

"So it would seem," Kili muttered, staring off at the wall, in the direction of the kitchen, where he knew the librarian's elder brother was. "I suppose I should apologize for the rolling pin," he finally added after a minute, offering the other a crooked smirk.

Ori simply laughed, shaking his head and pushing away from the door. "Nah. He'll be fine. A bit sore, maybe, but perhaps that'll finally teach him to wait until I'm home to come visiting. And, I am really quite sorry that he scared you so."

"And I'm really quite all right," Kili teased, doing a poor imitation of the faint British accent Ori had when he spoke. He laughed as the librarian swatted him about the arm, flopping down onto the bed in a heap.

"Does this mean we won't be going out for lunch?" Kili asked, rolling over onto his stomach to watch as Ori began to bustle about his bedroom, pulling off his tie and kicking his shoes under the bed.

"Hm? Oh, sure we can. Nori'll just make himself at home until he feel like leaving, so there's really no point in sticking around. Especially since I get the faint impression that you don't like him much," the red head hummed, flashing Kili a quick smile.

"Well, he did scare me nearly half to death," Kili hummed, propping his chin up in the palm of his hand, and kicking his feet up into the air.

Ori sniggered at Kili's childish position and comment, rolling his eyes as he stooped to snag the brunette's jeans from the floor. He gave a tiny start as the dancer's cell phone tumbled out of a pocket and onto the floor, the display screen lighting up a bright blue as one of the volume buttons were hit. He blinked in surprise as he scooped the phone up from the floor, eyes widening slightly at the dozens of missed messages and texts displayed on the screen.

"Uhm…I think someone was trying to get a hold of you," the red head commented, offering the phone to Kili, who took it with a look of curiosity.

The brunette's eyes widened almost comically as he began to scroll through the missed calls and messages, suddenly shooting up from the bed.

"I forgot to call Fili!"


End file.
